Category Archives: Diabetes

The sea of candies and chocolates will continue to flood supermarket shelves from now through Valentine’s Day. Consumers often think, “It is only one day of the year, why not indulge?” The truth is it is not just one day of the year, but rather one of many days, including all holidays, birthdays, and anniversaries, that center around sweets and treats. Today’s food environments exploit people’s biological, psychological, social, and economic vulnerabilities, encouraging them to eat unhealthy foods.1 The obesity and type two diabetes pandemic prevails, with 23.6 million people in the United States, who struggle with Type 2 diabetes (non-insulin-dependent…

Last week, The New York Times published an op-ed by Roger Cohen, its International Affairs and Diplomacy correspondent, regarding…wait for it – gluten!1 Has gluten become the nefarious “sticking point” that underlies our most critical diplomatic issues? Or was this just another of Cohen’s haughty rants against people who purchase organic food, implement health-optimizing diets, and keep abreast of nutrition science research? Spoiler alert – it’s the latter. The gist of Cohen’s latest article, “This Column is Gluten-Free,” is that wheat has gotten a bad rap, despite graciously feeding the world for the past 12,000 years. Cohen acknowledges that gluten…

What’s all the buzz about leptin? With over half the American population trying desperately to lose weight,1 it’s no wonder we’ve become fascinated with a hormone that prompts us to think obesity or starvation. Robert H. Lustig, MD, professor of pediatrics at UCSF and a member of the Endocrine Society’s Obesity Task Force explains “Leptin is a protein that’s made in the fat cells, circulates in the bloodstream, and goes to the brain; it’s the way your fat cells tell your brain that your energy thermostat is set right…and you have enough energy stored in your fat cells to engage…

Click Here to Start The Wheat Series from the Beginning! It’s one of the most commonly used analogies in existence and it’s about a game that few want to play. A revolver is loaded with a single bullet. The hapless players take turns putting the gun to their heads and pulling the trigger. The analogy is often used to make a point about the high stakes of luck. Eventually someone gets a loaded chamber and pays the ultimate price. There is a second side to the analogy, however that is frequently overlooked. Regardless of whether you have extremely good or…

Sugar – is there a more popular word for dieticians and nutritionists? Interestingly, economists have also been talking about the pure white stuff – but in a different context than the standard ‘insulin and cravings’ discussions. A new piece in The Atlantic discussed just how much money is spent on selling Americans sugar, every single day of our lives.1 Though nothing truly shocks me anymore, in the sleazy world of processed food marketing, I was a bit taken aback to realize that Kellogg’s spent $32 million on advertising their (truly awful) Pop Tarts last year. With that money, we could…

INTRODUCTION Some of the most well recognized names in the “Paleosphere” surprisingly maintain few professional, academic, or even experiential credentials which would qualify them as scientists, researchers or even lay experts in the discipline. These self proclaimed, charismatic authorities have influenced and continue to influence hundreds of thousands of people based upon nothing more than their untested subjective opinions and limited understanding of the scientific, peer review literature. Most have never been trained in the research process, few maintain anything more than a bare bones understanding of the scientific method and don’t have even the slightest inkling of the statistical…

You’ve read about it, you’ve heard about it, and chances are you even know someone who’s dealing with Candida: yeast overgrowth in the gut. Candidemia, the most common form of invasive candidiasis, is one of the widespread bloodstream infections in the United States. It’s estimated that approximately 46,000 cases of healthcare-associated invasive candidiasis occur each year in the US and overall, where candidemia rates have increased over the past 20 years.1 65+ populations exhibit Candida most where scientists suspect the prevalence of risk factors including diabetes, ICU admissions, or use of immunosuppressive therapies play a role.2 Candida albicans is a…

Unfortunately, 70% of the United States is now overweight.1 And nearly half of that 70% is obese – a truly scary prospect for the future of our nation’s health.2 But despite this alarming obesity epidemic (technically it is a pandemic, because the entire world is suffering from this problem) there has never been more debate about what exactly is causing the issue.3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 While this article will cover specific transcription factors and antioxidant pathways, the big bullet points for…

At the core of healthy living and Paleo lies the movement against refined carbohydrates. In addition to the risk of excess weight gain, many already know that it leads to further known health complications such as poor cardiovascular health, and diabetes. Adherence to the right nutrition is associated with not only promoting good physical well-being, but mental health as well. A recent study conducted at Columbia University was published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition showed consuming a diet full of refined carbohydrates such as white bread and pasta increases an individual’s risk of depression.1 On the flip side,…

If you thought religion and politics were the most taboo topics at the dinner table, there is now definitely a third hot button topic to add to the list. The vaccine debate has become such a contentious issue that even many leading functional doctors and researchers with expertise on the subject prefer not to speak out. Regardless of what they may say, someone will likely be offended. And, knowing the answers are not black and white, there doesn’t seem to be enough room in print to truly delve deep into the topic. Recently, pro-vaccination groups have become so frustrated with…

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